Necropsy set for Tuesday on body of right whale found in Gulf of St. Lawrence

Officials hope to perform a necropsy Tuesday on a North Atlantic right whale found dead last week in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The whale – a 40-year-old female named Punctuation – was being towed late Monday to Petit Etang, N.S., where pathologists from P.E.I.’s Atlantic Veterinary College are to conduct the necropsy.

READ MORE: Death of endangered whale named ‘Punctuation’ deemed ‘devastating to the population’

An aerial survey team from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) discovered the body floating off the Magdalen Islands on June 20.

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Researchers had been studying Punctuation, who gave birth to at least eight calves, for nearly four decades.

There are only an estimated 411 of the endangered whales left, with deaths outpacing live births.

READ MORE: Dead endangered right whale found drifting in Gulf of St. Lawrence: DFO

A study released last week found more than half the 70 North Atlantic right whale deaths recorded over the last 16 years were caused by entanglement in fishing gear or vessel collisions.